EHRs, clinical registries cut heart disease fatalities by 88 percent at Kaiser hospitals
Use of an electronic health record and a clinical care registry has helped reduce fatal coronary heart disease by 88 percent at Kaiser Permanente’s Colorado healthcare facilities, according to results of a pilot program initiated by the Oakland, CA-based healthcare provider.  Kaiser also noted that 73 percent of patients enrolled in the provider’s Collaborative Cardiac Care Service pilot met their cholesterol goal, compared to 26 percent for those not in the program; and cholesterol screenings rose from 55 percent to 97 percent while on the pilot. The pilot program consisted of integrated nursing and pharmacy teams that work collaboratively with heart disease patients and their doctors, according to George C. Halvorson, Kaiser Permanente’s chief executive officer and chairperson. The team is connected by technology tools that help them deliver care proven to improve health outcomes.“Technology itself cannot solve the healthcare crisis,” Halvorson said. “Our Colorado region achieved quality care results by aligning people and technology in the most efficient care delivery system. It was not newer or more expensive treatments, but an integrated approach to deliver the right care at the right time.” http://xnet.kp.org/newscenter/pressreleases...l

Online age quiz gives drug providers chance to improve telemedicine marketing
Drug manufacturers are expanding their reach by marketing their telemedicine products based on the patient’s age, according to personalized health information and management tool provider RealAge. RealAge, which “promotes better living through nonmedical solutions to health problems,” asks Web site visitors questions about their lifestyle and family history to assign a biological age. It then offers suggestions on how the visitor can “get younger,” such as by taking vitamins or eating a sensible breakfast. Survey responses are stored in a database that drugmakers can use to identify persons with specific diseases, and begin sending them product marketing messages. Participating drug companies include Pfizer, Novartis and GlaxoSmithKline.   http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/26/technology/internet/26privacy.html?_r=2

VeriFone takes aim at German medical market with electronic healthcard  
San Jose, CA-based electronic services provider VeriFone Holdings Inc. has decided to enter the market for electronic health card systems because of growing demand for the product in Germany, according to VeriFone Chief Executive Officer Douglas G. Bergeron. In the past year, Germany has begun a major e-health initiative that ties together health providers, pharmacies and insurers with a consumer electronic health card, aimed at migrating consumer healthcare information and payment needs to a national communications network based on an electronic chip card. The system combines insurance eligibility, electronic prescriptions and electronic medical records on a consumer smart card. Bergeron said VeriFone’s expertise in providing medical applications in the U.S. makes the company’s entry into the German market a natural fit. “We have worked with health providers, insurance companies and applications developers to provide electronic solutions to resolve health records and reimbursement issues,” Bergeron said. “This expertise is uniquely suited to the emerging needs of Germany’s healthcare industry.” http://www.verifone.com/2009/verifone-ehealth-initiative...

Royal College of Nursing to develop online telecare resource for members
The United Kingdom’s Royal College of Nursing (RCN) plans to develop a Web-based telecare and telehealth resource for its members. RCN is surveying its membership through an online survey to determine what member needs are in relation to telehealth and telecare, according to RCN e-health department official Nick Hardiker. The survey includes multiple choice questions such as “What should be the wider role of the RCN in relation to telehealth and telecare?” and asks members to rate the importance of setting up a telehealth or telecare intervention or program. RCN has also recently established an e-health program board to examine the impact of new technologies on the provision of care services throughout the UK, Hardiker notes. http://www.e-health-insider.com/news/4689/... and http://www.rcn.org.uk/development/practice/e-health

Louisville health record banking system assigned to 3M, InterComponentWare
3M Health Information Systems and InterComponentWare Inc. (ICW) have been chosen to build an electronic health record banking system to allow free health information exchange for 1.2 million residents throughout the Louisville, KY area, the companies announced. Although a final deal is still to be negotiated, the plan calls for 3M and ICW to establish the system for the Louisville Health Information Exchange (LouHIE), which has been trying to develop an electronic health data network for three years, according to Louisville Mayor Jerry Abramson. When implemented, consumers can store and manage their patient data in a private and secure personal health record bank. Each individual will control his or her health record bank information and can make the complete record available to providers at healthcare facilities in the greater Louisville area, or access their own record via the Internet, LouHIE Chairperson Sheila Andersen said. The LouHIE project is expected to be a model for other HIEs, Andersen added. http://www.businesswire.com/portal/site/3m/index.jsp?ndmViewId...

Texas Tech Center for Telemedicine plans creation of pediatric telehealth program
Texas Tech’s Center for Telemedicine expects to receive $6.2 million in state funding in April for creation of a pediatric Medicaid telemedicine program at 30 rural West Texas locations, according to the center’s director. The proposed two-year contract is the result of state legislation and a 1993 class action lawsuit filed against the state of Texas, according to the state’s Department of Health and Human Services. Texas House Bill 15 would appropriate an estimated $1.8 billion for the 2008 to 2009 biennium to support state efforts to correct claims of inadequate Medicaid pediatric access to healthcare resulting from the 1993 lawsuit, according to TTCT Director Debbie Voyles. The suit was settled in 2008. The state originally proposed that $6.2 million each be allocated to Texas Tech, Texas A&M, the University of Texas, and the University of North Texas. http://media.www.dailytoreador.com/media/storage/paper870/news...

U.S. needs more EHRs and better interoperability to improve state of healthcare
The $19 billion for health information in the government’s recently passed economic stimulus package needs to apply better interoperability of electronic health records (EHRs) as well as efforts to increase their use by doctors and hospitals if the U.S. healthcare system is to improve, according to medical experts at the American Academy of Family Physicians and Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) in Boston. With existing EHRs, doctors currently have to wade through pages of data and enter the same information multiple times, according to Dr. Kevin Hughes, a breast cancer surgeon at MGH. An efficient EHR should enable the physician to only enter the data once. “We don’t have interoperability within (EHRs), much less between (EHRs),” Hughes said. “A lot of the party line on (EHRs) is that we need to regulate that doctors must use them ... but why don’t we make them better, so they want to use them?” Health IT also needs “data liquidity,” according to AAFP Executive Vice President Dr. Doug Henley. “It needs to be easy to transfer healthcare data among healthcare providers and between providers and patients,” he said. http://computerworld.co.nz/news.nsf/news/...

South Manchester officials plot $700,000 high-speed broadband network
Neighborhoods and businesses in South Manchester, England are about to receive more than $700,000 [USD] in high-speed broadband access beginning this summer, according to the Northwest Regional and Manchester Digital development agencies. Manchester Digital (MDDA) plans to set up working groups from the housing, business, healthcare and creative sectors to assess and develop uses for the next-gen broadband, with telehealth services as one potential use, according to MDDA head David Carter. “We cannot wait for the market providers to do this for us,” Carter said. “It’s a bit like public transport, [where] private operators don’t build new train lines or tram tracks. We need to provide the core infrastructure on which they can build. This will be an open access network available to all service providers." http://networks.silicon.com/broadband/...

Ontario government stays the course with 2009 fiscal budget, EHR development
The 2009 Ontario budget is “good news for patients,” with hospital funding remaining intact during the coming fiscal year and plans to implement a provincial electronic health record (EHR) on track, according to Ontario Hospital Association President Tom Closson. Ontario lawmakers have confirmed that hospitals will receive the 2.1 percent increase in the hospital base funding formula in 2009-10 that was originally announced one year ago, Closson said.The OHA also welcomed the government’s plan to invest approximately $2 billion over the next three years to implement e-Health initiatives, including the creation of an EHR by 2015. “This is a positive budget for Ontario’s hospitals and patients,” Closson said. “By protecting hospital funding in 2009-10, the government is positioning hospitals to maintain access to high quality health services in the challenging year ahead.” http://www.oha.com/Client...

Abstracts sought for 2009 Conference on Successes & Failures in Telehealth
Abstracts are now being accepted for the International Conference on Successes & Failures in Telehealth 2009 conference, scheduled for Nov. 10-11 in Brisbane, Australia. Contributions are invited from all areas of telemedicine, telehealth and e-health, including clinical, educational and administrative applications. Abstracts should reflect the general theme of the conference by reporting on successful or failed experiences in the field. Papers evaluating the cost effectiveness and other benefits of well-established programs are particularly welcomed. All abstracts will be peer-reviewed by the scientific committee who will then offer oral and poster presentations to successful applicants. Abstracts must not exceed 300 words and should relate to original, unpublished work. Submission deadline is May 29. For more information, visit www.icebergevents.com/sft09/Call-for-Abstracts/ or contact Emma Tooth at emma@icebergevents.com.au and http://www.icebergevents.com/sft09/Call-for-Abstracts/

InterComponentWare, CitiusTech partner on e-health integration services
Walldorf, Germany-headquartered global e-health specialist InterComponentWare (ICW) has partnered with healthcare technology and consulting services provider CitiusTech to expand delivery of e-health integration services, the companies announced. Wayne, PA-based CitiusTech will work as a system integration partner of ICW and offer specialized integration services based on ICW’s eHealth Framework, according to Jeremy Coote, chief executive officer of ICW’s North American subsidiary. The partnership will also facilitate the development of additional frameworks, tools and utilities based on ICW technology, he said. http://www.icw-global.com/us/en/news-events/...

Call for submissions for World Congress on Medical and Health Informatics
Submissions are being accepted for MedInfo2010, the 13th World Congress on Medical and Health Informatics, to be held in Cape Town, South Africa on Sept. 13-16, 2010. Papers, posters, panels, workshops and tutorials submitted should embrace the conference theme of “partnerships for effective e-health solutions,” or may focus on other areas of biomedical informatics. Topic areas include e-health infrastructures, emerging technologies, electronic health records, and national and international health information technology efforts. The deadline for early submissions, for those who wish to participate in the Scientific Mentor Scheme, is July 1, 2009. Feedback from mentors will be given by August 1, 2009, and final papers should be submitted by September 30, 2009. For more information, visit www.medinfo2010.org. http://www.rodspace.co.uk/blog/2009/03/...